Story

Our thoughts

President Maruo's thoughts after 17 years in the restaurant business.

We want to share Japan's wonderful food culture with the world.

Through the food and beverage industry, I want to establish a business model that allows not only myself but also business owners to win .

As these feelings grew stronger, I finally came to the conclusion that ramen was the answer.

After running restaurants for many years and consulting on the rehabilitation of various restaurants, I realized that the days when "if it's delicious, it will sell" are over.

The future will be one in which products can be sold through branding strategies that differentiate products not only through taste, but also through a comprehensive worldview that includes visuals, storytelling, spatial designers, and customer service.

Everyone has a chance and can make a difference

Ramen is a simple business that anyone can open without a chef if they create the necessary system.

The market size is large, and it is popular as a national dish in Japan and as Japanese food around the world.

For Maruo, who graduated from a culinary school, the ramen industry is one in which many people have left their jobs to join.

It wasn't difficult for us to use our advantage as professional chefs to significantly differentiate ourselves from the competition, and it was the perfect opportunity to develop a branding strategy.

Building a winning business model

He gathered together friends from his culinary school who excelled in developing original dishes, and created the brand "French Ramen," a combination of the unexpected qualities of "a chef with 14 years of French cuisine" and "ramen." He opened his first directly managed store in 2017.


As intended, the French ramen, which was particular about its visuals and story, was popular not only with its traditional male demographic, but also with females. It was easy for people to remember, and it led to it being featured in various media outlets, which we believe has rapidly increased brand awareness that would normally take a long time to steadily build up.

Currently, we operate three directly managed stores, and while we are working to increase the brand power of French ramen, we are also exploring repeatable methods for success through real-life experience, and building know-how every day by sharing this with our franchisees.

A branding strategy that will get the media coverage

It is this business model that has such strong branding that it has become highly popular.

Industry first "20 brand deployment" as long-term management strategy

As a strategy to increase the repeatability of long-term management, we are currently planning an industry-first "20 brand expansion" that is possible only because of the simple format of a ramen specialty store.

20 There are two main reasons for expanding the brand.

First, you can select a brand that matches the marketing of each store. Not only can you gain a strong fan base through branding that matches potential customers, but if you run into a management crisis due to a mismatch or stagnation, you can recover by simply changing the brand while keeping the property and equipment the same.

The second strategy is a dominant strategy. Since each brand has a different taste, the group as a whole can expand its fan base without competing for customers. As French ramen restaurants spread throughout Japan and the world, the number of fans can increase exponentially.

(As of April 2024, 11 brands are under development.)

This is our history and our greatest strength.
Our goal is not to be a "delicious ramen restaurant," but to create a "French ramen business" that is as reproducible and successful as possible.


If you are an owner who would like to join our French ramen business, please feel free to contact us.